Salesforce Commercial Advisory Services

UpperEdge’s strength is in its specific vendor domain expertise. We had a square hole problem and you guys showed up with a square peg with specialization in a relevant space. And the overall execution against our very specific business issue was great — it wasn’t improvisational.

Maintain Control in Your Salesforce Relationship

Salesforce’s expertly crafted sales system is meticulously designed to extract maximum value from each of their clients. The fact that this cloud giant is the fastest growing enterprise cloud software company to reach an annual run rate of $10B with plans to reach $40B by 2028, is an indicator that their system is working.

The SaaS cloud model is already built to increasingly raise customers’ costs and dependency over time, but Salesforce has taken this to the next level with their incredibly effective sales tactics. This, paired with a perceived lack of leverage, has caused many Salesforce customers to simply give up trying to negotiate with Salesforce, feeling they have very little control over what too often becomes a purely transactional relationship.

We put the power back in your hands and guide you on how to improve your go-forward relationship to maximize the value you receive from Salesforce.

Don’t Settle for Salesforce’s Boiler-Plate Terms

Too many organizations are living with Salesforce’s standard contractual and commercial terms because they feel they have limited leverage when negotiating with Salesforce. But these vendor-centric terms are written so your costs increase significantly at each renewal. The chart below displays the cost differences between Customer A who settled for standard renewal terms and Customer B who worked with us to secure renewal price protections.

Salesforce’s sales organization is focused on executing a companywide plan to “land and expand” with their customers. They work to establish buy-in from business leads and often circumvent the IT or procurement departments because they know establishing line of business relationships is the fastest way to expand their footprint.

Once Salesforce has “landed” your business, they tend to spend the majority of their effort trying to motivate you to adopt more products and little time helping you get more value out of the products you’ve already adopted.

Salesforce can be particularly difficult to work with during renewal negotiations. They often ignore simple requests for information and refuse to provide meaningful commitments or concessions.

Whether you are becoming a new Salesforce customer or have an upcoming renewal, we can provide you with a tailored, fact-based approach for achieving highly competitive non-standard discounting and pricing for products being adopted now and in the future.

Salesforce Practice by the Numbers

>10 Years of Experience Advising on Salesforce Transactions

>$320M of Salesforce Annual Contract Value Under Advisement

50x Average Return on Investment

With UpperEdge on Your Side, You Can:

Achievebest-in-classpricinganddiscounting

We Provide Highly Customized Deliverables in Every Client Engagement

Baseline Assessment

A mark-to-market assessment of your current Salesforce relationship that identifies pricing and commercial terms that can be improved. Includes identification of potential lost value tied to underutilization.

Highly Customized Negotiation Strategy

A holistic go-forward negotiation strategy and roadmap that maximizes your leverage so you can achieve a highly competitive deal within your desired timeframe.

Executive Meeting Agendas and Talking Points

Highly customized and tailored talking points that empower you to persuade senior and executive Salesforce leadership to approve non-standard discounting and commercial terms.

Proposal Solicitation and Commercial Term Sheets

A detailed and tailored document for soliciting a comprehensive proposal from Salesforce that addresses all of the shortand long-term financial and commercial elements unique to a Salesforce relationship.

Our Tools

> 1,000 Comparative Product Price Points

Salesforce Playbook

A product edition comparison guide and tutorial that includes up-to-date product insights

Robust Commercial Terms Database

Includes comparative key commercial terms and contractual provisions found within negotiated Salesforce contracts

On-Demand Webcast

Are You Truly Prepared for Your Salesforce Renewal?

Salesforce fully appreciates the difficulty associated with customers migrating to other solutions. Their ability to leverage this significant customer challenge has been critical to its success. If you have a renewal approaching, prepare yourself by downloading our webcast recording which:

• Outlines how to effectively prepare for your Salesforce renewal• Provides actionable strategies to increase your leverage with Salesforce• Describes how to address Salesforce’s sales tactics during renewal time

Want a Salesforce Negotiation Expert on Your Side?

Let us know your situation by contacting us at 617-412-4323 or sending an email to info@upperedge.com. If you prefer to be contacted, please complete the form below so we can better serve and support your inquiry.